Quarterback Cody Fajardo, who ran for 1,121 yards and threw for 2,786 a year ago, is back at the controls of Nevada's 'Pistol' offense. / Soobum Im/USA Today Sports

Nevada

About this series

This is the third in a 12-part series previewing the Mountain West Conference's football teams. Coming up Sunday: San Jose State.

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Visit Coloradoan.com/CSUfootball for videos of Nevada quarterback Cody Fajardo and coach Brian Polian talking about their Nevada team during the MW Football Media Days in Las Vegas. The site also has all things CSU football, including the latest recruiting stories, videos, photo galleries and more.

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First-year coach Brian Polian has some big shoes to fill replacing Hall of Famer Chris Ault, the creator of the Pistol offense and holder of a 233-109-1 record in 28 seasons at Nevada. He's trying to make the game fun again for the Wolf Pack without making any drastic changes.

Here are five thinggs you need to know about the Wolf Pack:

1. Junior quarterback Cody Fajardo ran for 1,121 yards and 12 touchdowns and threw for 2,786 yards and 20 TDs last season. He is on preseason watch lists this year for the Maxwell (player of the year), O'Brien (top quarterback) and Hornung (most-versatile player) awards.

2. Polian is running his own program for the first time. He's been around and worked for some of the top coaches in the game, including Nick Saban, Tony Dungy, Marv Levy, Jim Harbaugh and Charlie Weis. He's borrowed bits and pieces from each of them but doesn't model himself after any of them, he said.

3. The Wolf Pack has a brutal schedule this year that includes road games at UCLA, Florida State, Boise State and Fresno State. We've got to beat the best in order to be the best, Fajardo said.

4. Offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich is returning for a second season, and Polian is keeping the Pistol offense that Ault created. But the Wolf Pack has to replace running back Stephon Jefferson, who ran for a Mountain West Conference record 1,883 yards last season.

5. Nevada is just 2-9 all-time against CSU but has won two of the past three games, including a 51-6 victory two years ago in Reno, Nev.